


A Date With the Avatar

by TrashTrish



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged up Zukaang - Freeform, Bisexual Aang (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), M/M, POV Zuko (Avatar), Wedding Talk, adorable boys, post atla, talk of the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24268975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashTrish/pseuds/TrashTrish
Summary: After a busy morning all Zuko wants is something to eat and to spend some time with the man he loves. The last thing he expects is for Aang to have arranged a date for them and that's not the last of the surprises.
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar), Zukaang (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 245
Collections: Forever Zukaang





	A Date With the Avatar

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something with a little more fluff then the last couple of fics I wrote. I will definitely do more like this since you guys seem to like them. :)

His morning was exhausting. He was awoken at an awful hour for a meeting that he hadn't planned. One of his generals wasn't happy with the direction he was taking the military in, especially regarding their dealings with the other Nations, and he expressed so in a vicious manner in the council room where he did not sit in the throne like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather had before him, but at the table with everyone else. He wanted to show his people that change was coming from the top. And he would not continue to Reign like the Fire Lords of the past 100 years. But the General was not showing him the same respect and after hearing him out for two hours, two hours where he truly worried the man would snap and try to attack him, he'd had enough and relieved him of his position. It was a move that stunned the General and saw him refuse to leave his post. The move saw him forcefully removed from the Palace, and escorted off the grounds.

The incident meant he needed more security around the palace and him, which was not how he had seen today going.

He saw Aang briefly in the hall and was about to join him for breakfast when he was called to speak to the Earth King. Aang had offered to attend with him, but his fiance was getting some time to relax for the first time in years and Zuko didn't want to pull him back in so soon. It wasn't like things would stay this way for very long. If their time together had proven anything, it was they would both be in high demand for the rest of their lives. Not that he minded. He had a lot of work to do still in order to heal the pain caused by his people, so if that meant sacrificing his own time, he was willing to do it.

His meeting with the Earth King had gone much better than his 'talk' with the general. The whole meeting was over in 40 minutes, and the rest of the time they exchanged pleasantries and talk of the future they were building. He was starving by the time he made it out. But that wasn't the end of his busy morning.

Next came the people from the Fire Nation. Several had complaints, others had issues they wanted him to help them with. He didn't want to leave his people waiting, so he sacrificed breakfast and heard them out. Some of the complaints where difficult to listen to. The people who wanted him to revert back to the old ways, the ways of his father, were the most difficult to deal with. Assurances didn't help. Neither did logic. But he knew he needed to try. The way the Fire Nation as a whole moved forward, and bettered it's view in the eyes of the other nations, was to try and help bring people up to speed with the changes, and help them adjust. Changing minds was not easy. But he was sure with time he would get most people on board.

They already had.

In the years following the end of the war, his people had adapted really well to the changes. They explored the world outside the Fire Nation in a peaceful way, relationships were started with people and benders from different nations and excitement rang out from the Fire Nation when he or Aang spoke of the nations coming together again, and living peacefully in a way they never had before. There were some voices of dissent, but those got less over time.

It was just the day for those voices to be more outspoken, and come directly to him.

Only one gave him great concern and the situation was going to be monitored carefully. One came around some in the time they spoke, and seemed genuinely pleased to be able to speak to the Fire Lord. It felt good to make changes within his own people.

By the time he was finished with the last person, morning was over. He was starving and a little grumpy, both from the hunger and the fatigue the last several hours had left him with. He was passing by the dining room on the way to the kitchen when he spotted Aang waiting for him.

"You didn't have to wait," he told the man who was sitting at the head of the table.

Aang bounced out of the chair. "I know! But I made plans while you were busy and I can't do them without you."

"What kind of plans?"

Aang's smile was joyful, "I'm taking you on a date?"

"A date?"

"Yes, a date. You know what a date is, don't you?"

The sarcasm was fun. "I know what a date is. We've been on a few."

Aang shook his head. "Kind of, I guess, but we never went on a real date before. At least not one we called a date."

He thought about it and came to the conclusion that Aang was right. They had spent a lot of time together in the last four years. At the start the age difference was too weird and then, when things had changed from just friends to boyfriends and later fiance's, they had never officially called their time together a date. It had felt like much of the time was them going on dates. But it was never official. So he was going on a first date. With The Avatar. With his fiance.

"Can I get something to eat first?" he asked, a little desperate. He wanted to enjoy the date.

"Follow me." Aang motioned his head and Zuko followed.

He would follow the man anywhere, in any circumstances.

He led him out to the garden and motioned to the sight in front of them. "Tada!"

In the grass, next to the pond, was a blanket and on that blanket was food. His mouth watered at the sight. Aang's smile widened even more and tugged him over. He allowed himself to be pulled over, gaze never leaving the food.

"Enjoy," Aang said. There was no time for him to say anything else before Zuko was on his knees and scoffing down the feast. Aang had prepared all his favorite foods. There was so much here. He would never finish it all. His stomach didn't complain. It loved Aang as much as the rest of him right then. Their date was not off to a good start. All Zuko could do was eat. A couple of times he glanced up at Aang in the middle of chewing and saw the Avatar was watching him.

Once his stomach felt close to full he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm being a bad date."

"Never," Aang reassured. "I knew what would happen when I made this much food."

"Still, I'm going to do better." Zuko set the bowl of noodles down. "How did you get all this done so fast?"

"I have my ways."

"Tell me you didn't spend your whole morning cooking and waiting for me."

"I didn't. I ate breakfast while you were meeting with the Earth King. I met Toph and told her what I was planning. She told me to speak to your mom and get some food idea. She also wanted me to say that we're getting everyone together this weekend and doing something like old times. I promised we'd be ready. Then I spoke to your mom. She gave me a couple of recipes and oversaw that I did everything the way you like it. Hopefully I did an okay job with it all."

"How did you fit all that in? How are you not tired?" He was amazed. Aang was so full of energy while he was still fatigued and his day had involved less moving, less strenuous work.

Aang looked at him like the answer was obvious. "I've had time off for the last while." He didn't talk about couple of months where he wasn't sleeping and the trip they took and the toll the whole thing had on him. "And you've been working since we got back. I think you need some time off as much as I did."

Honestly, Aang wasn't totally wrong, but he didn't want to leave again. Not when it was only a few weeks ago they were gone for an entire two months. He had a duty to the Fire Nation and the rest of the world. It wasn't the time to say he needed a break. He just maybe needed to figure out his schedule a bit more. He took on a lot all the time and didn't like to say no to anything anymore. Aang had offered his help but he didn't think he needed it. Now he thought maybe he did.

"I guess I could work on my schedule a bit. See if I can make it work better."

"Want me to help?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know what's better-" He shook his head, not finishing the sentence. "We're on a date. Not talking work."

"Zuko, you're the Fire Lord and I'm the Avatar. We never truly stop working. I think talking about it on our date is only natural."

"But-"

Aang cut him off. "We can try different things. We could share a schedule so we have more time, or we could take turns dealing with things. Which do you think would work better?"

He sighed. "I want to say us sharing a schedule when we can, but I don't think that's realistic in the long term."

"Then maybe we set days for our meetings with the Earth King and Hakoda? The uncertainty of when we'll meet to plan and talk has to be stressful for them too. Maybe we would be doing them a favor."

"You mean set up a schedule for the Republic meetings?"

"Yeah, we could see what days work best for them and figure out if we always meet in person during them or if we send letters sometimes."

"We could try." At least they could say they offered, he supposed. It wasn't unusual for someone to miss a meeting. Either Aang had Avatar business or he Hakoda was busy with the updates to the Southern Water Tribe. He thought they would be done by now, but they were going big, and delays over the years had slowed the progress at times. He and Aang had called out to help a few times. More Aang than him. But he was happy to help when he could.

"I brought you something." Aang held one hand behind his back. His smile was infectious.

"What is it?"

"Guess."

"Tea?" he guessed. He knew how much Aang loved his uncle's tea.

"Nope." He stretched his hand out and presented a fire lily to him. It was beautiful. "I brought you a flower."

"I can see that." He took the flower from Aang and sniffed it. "Thanks, love."

Aang leaned over and kissed him on the nose. He hadn't felt Aang pull the bun out of his hair. It wasn't until he felt the weight of them around his shoulders that it resonated. "Give it here a second?" Aang asked. He handed the flower back and held still as Aang put it in his hair. He did it with such careful precision that Zuko's heart swelled in his chest. "There." Aang beamed.

"I love you," he whispered to Aang.

Aang's face was almost touching his. "I love you too."

They kissed. A soft, sweet, brief kiss. It was a brush of lips against lips, another declaration of love. It ended almost as soon as it began. Zuko turned to mush. He had never felt so happy or loved. The freedom he felt with Aang was unmatched by anything.

They got lost in each other for a while, gazing into each others eyes, playing games of kiss the nose or cheek, laughing like little kids who were up to mischief. It was a rare moment where they could act like the young men they were, instead of like men with the weight of the world on their shoulders, like men who had been forced to grow up much faster than they would have liked. He made the most of the moment and swore they would have more of them. They both deserved it.

Zuko loved being able to be young and carefree with Aang. 

In another world they might have been able to enjoy their childhoods together, he though. They could have grown up being the best of friends. Instead of enemies like it had been the case when they first met. It could be beautiful.

A while later they were laying on their backs, Zuko's head resting on Aang's chest, watching the clouds in the sky. It was the most relax he had felt in so long. Being here with Aang helped tremendously. But also, just being something other than Fire Lord for a while helped.

Aang told him stories. Apparently when he was younger, some of the monks had shared stories of what certain shaped clouds meant. If you saw a face, it meant the sky spirits had honored someone who had been kind to them. If you saw animals, it was a sign of good things to come.

They saw two animals in the clouds.

He wondered if that meant their wedding would go off without a hitch.

It would be nice. To have that go perfectly. He was eagerly awaiting their wedding day. Somedays it felt like it was forever away and other times, he felt like they wouldn't have enough time to get everything planned. They didn't even have a date yet but they didn't want to be engaged forever.

"Where do you see us in 20 years?" Aang asked him suddenly.

Zuko closed his eyes and imagined them in 20 years. "I think we'll have our lives together. We'll be happy. I see us with kids. A lot of kids."

Aang laughed. "How many's a lot?"

"Three or four."

"Sounds nice, but that's not a lot of kids."

"It's a lot for people as busy as we are." He didn't think having more than four would be a good choice for them. They were, after all, in positions that meant their lives would never be fully their own.

"Never thought of it like that," Aang told him. "But it makes sense."

"Where do you see us?"

Aang was silent for a moment, a moment that lasted a little too long. Zuko laced their fingers together and squeezed gently. Aang struggled still with the knowledge he might one day leave him behind. Zuko hadn't wanted to dwell on it. He had meant what he said that day in the Southern Air Temple. He would enjoy every moment he had with Aang and wouldn't focus on the uncertainty of the future. There was no point in torturing himself by fretting over it. "I'd like our lives to be slower," Aang then spoke. "We could live somewhere else maybe, somewhere a little quieter. We'd have kids, of course, and our family would be happy. I like to think everyone will be more present in our lives. Our kids can all grow up together. Toph can be the grumpy uncle. Iroh can be the loving grandpa and your mom the loving grandma who loves to cook for her grandkids."

"That sounds amazing."

"We'll be great parents. We'll love our kids to the end of the universe and back. We'll make sure they have happy childhoods. And the world they'll grow up in will be peaceful."

"I'd like that."

"We'll be the fun dads. We'll teach them right from wrong but we won't be that strict. It'll drive Toph crazy."

"She'll drive herself crazy if she's around them too often."

"Or she'll love them because they're part of our family."

"Toph might have a kid of her own."

"Don't tell her that," he laughed. Toph would either explode or pass out and then explode. She was not a kid person. Which made her being a teacher all the more funny because there were some kids in her metal bending school and she was the sole teacher.

"I'd never. Well, if it happens I would say I saw it coming."

"I don't want to be a widower THAT soon."

They laughed.

"How do you feel about our wedding being a mix of both of us?"

He liked that idea. The Air Temple was the one thing they knew was a certainty. They needed to get that back up and running first. "I'd like that. We could combine traditions and cultures."

"Exactly. You always know where my mind is."

"And you always know mine."

"I have one more surprise for you." Aang told him. "Want to wait a while or will I show you now?"

"Show me now!" The afternoon had been perfect already. He could not imagine something making it better. But Aang's surprises were always the best. He knew how to carry out a surprise and make it fun.

Aang kissed him softly. "Okay. I'll be right back."

Aang swiped his glider from behind one of the trees and took off. He watched as his fiance flew up into the clouds, where he disappeared. Confused, he surveyed the sky for a sign of what was going on, but saw nothing. At first anyway. Soon it became clear Aang was bending up there. He couldn't see him, but the clouds were bring morphed into different shapes. He followed the changes, his heart slowing to a steady, methodical beat. Tears began to well in his eyes. He blinked them away, not wanting to miss a thing. 

Eventually Aang glided down from the sky and stopped at his side once again. The two of them stared at what Aang had just done.

Gone were the animals and people they didn't know. Now the sky had them. And underneath it Aang had wrote.

Zuko

Our love is forever

Aang


End file.
